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Lothair II or Lothair III (before 9 June 1075 – 4 December 1137), known as Lothair of Supplinburg, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 until his death. He was appointed Duke of Saxony in 1106 and elected King of Germany in 1125 before being crowned emperor in Rome. The son of the Saxon count Gebhard of Supplinburg, his reign was troubled by the constant intriguing of the Hohenstaufens, Duke Frederick II of Swabia and Duke Conrad of Franconia. He died while returning from a successful campaign against the Norman Kingdom of Sicily. ==Rise to power== Little is known of Lothair's youth. He was a posthumous child, born at Unterlüß in 1075 shortly after his father, who had joined the Saxon Rebellion against the ruling Salian dynasty, died in the Battle of Langensalza on 9 June against troops loyal to Emperor Henry IV.〔Pavlac, pg. 470〕 In 1100 he married Richenza, daughter of Count Henry of Northeim and Gertrude of Brunswick, heiress of the Brunonids. After years of purchasing lands or gaining them via inheritance or marriage alliances throughout Saxony, Lothair gained the domains of the House of Billung, the Counts of Northeim and the Brunonids, and became one of the dominant landowners in the North German duchy. He backed the emperor's son Henry V during the disempowerment of his father Henry IV and in turn was made Duke of Saxony upon the death of Magnus of Billung in 1106.〔Canduci, pg. 261〕 Emboldened by the promotion and incensed over the imposition of a new tax on ducal lords, however, Duke Lothair subsequently revolted against Emperor Henry's rule and denied his ability to rule Saxony during the Investiture Controversy. He acted autonomously, vesting Count Adolf of Schauenburg with Holstein in 1110, was temporarily deposed in 1112 but reinstated after he tactically submitted himself to the rule of Henry V. In 1115 however, he joined the rebellious Saxon forces which defeated those of the Emperor in the Battle of Welfesholz.〔Comyn, pg. 181〕 When in 1123 Henry V vested Count Wiprecht of Groitzsch with the Margraviate of Meissen, Lothair enforced the appointment of Conrad of Wettin and ceded the March of Lusatia to Count Albert the Bear. After the death of Emperor Henry V in 1125, Lothair was viewed by the Imperial chancellor, the Archbishop of Mainz, as a perfect candidate.〔Comyn, pg. 189〕 As an extensive landowner all over Saxony, he brought power to the table, but he was old (slightly over fifty years of age) and had no male issue, potentially making him malleable for the nobility. He was therefore elected King of the Romans after a contentious power struggle with Duke Frederick II, Duke of Swabia, head of the rising House of Hohenstaufen.〔Bryce, pg. xxxix〕 His election was notable in that it marked a departure from the concept of hereditary succession.〔Bryce, pg. 238〕 Somewhat naive concerning the complex power struggle between the papacy and the empire, Lothair also consented to several symbolic acts that were subsequently interpreted by Rome as signaling acceptance of papal confirmation of his position.〔 A campaign undertaken in the same year against Bohemia ended in defeat, a weak start by Lothair. Among those captured by the Bohemians was Albert of Ascania, future Margrave of Brandenburg. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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